Bantams On The Up

When you think of Bradford City, what immediately comes to mind? Maybe it’s the Valley Parade fire, perhaps their short time in the Premiership, or last season’s fantastic cup run. Well whatever you may think, it appears that Bradford City are a club on the up.

Three wins a row have seen the Bantams rise to fourth in the League One table, with only Leyton Orient, Wolves and Peterborough ahead of them. Even with star striker Nahki Wells injured, Bradford have shown good performances from all areas of the team, with Kyel Reid impressing recently, earning himself a nomination for League One Player Of The Month.

But the question is if this rise can continue? Doubts will be raised over Bradford’s ability to score freely should Wells leave in January (although he may command a sizeable transfer fee, like Dwight Gayle’s £8 million move to Crystal Palace.) A reported bid of £1.2 million was rejected by The Bantams in July for the Bermudan striker, although interest will be high for the pacy forward in January. Such doubts may have been removed by other members of the team chipping in with vital goals. James Hanson, who scored the goal that took Bradford to Wembley in last season’s Capital One Cup semi-final at Aston Villa, has already got 5 this season, and players such as Reid and Mark Yeates are coming into form.

Gone are the days of doom and gloom at Valley Parade. Remember, City suffered two administrations, in 2002 and 2004, and were on the brink of going out of the football league altogether as recent as April 2012. However, this current crop of Bradford players have “gelled” exceptionally, and there could be a lot more to come from them this season.